Huntington St. Joe Women Take Third State Basketball Title

CHARLESTON,WV (HNN) Huntington Saint Joseph Central Catholic High School made it three Class A West Virginia Girl's High School Basketball Championships in a row on Saturday afternoon after winning over Saint Marys 56-49 at the Charleston Civic Center.

Saint Marys came into the game with a perfect 26-0 record and ranked number one in Class A. Huntington Saint Joe was ranked number two and had a 17-7 record.

Saint Mary's started off with a 6-0 lead. Saint Joe came back to take a 10-8 lead at the end of the first period.

Huntington Saint Joe dominated the second period taking an 11 point lead and going in at intermission up 28-17.

Saint Marys came back fighting in the third and fourth periods trying to make it a perfect 27-0 and a state championship crown.

With a lead of six points Saint Joe decided to pass the ball around and see if Saint Marys would foul with about two minutes left in the game. There was some question if this was going to work because Saint Marys was only two points down (51-49) with 1:01 left in the game.

Saint Joe's Mychal Johnson dribbled the ball and passed the ball a lot. Saint Marys fouled Johnson forcing her to the foul line in the last two minutes.

The strategy that Saint Joe head Coach Shannon Lewis hadworked. Johnson made five of her six foul shots to put Saint Joe up 55-49. Saint Joe's Sara Sang was fouled with two seconds left and she made one of her two fouls shots to secure the 56-49 win and three state championships in a row.

Coach Lewis attributed the win to hard work, good team work and a tough schedule.

Huntington Saint Joe finishes the season 18-7 and 2011 West Virginia High School Class A Girl's State Champions. Saint Mary’s finishes with a 26-1 record and Class A state runner-up.

Making the Class A All-Tournament team were from Huntington Saint Joe, Sara Sang, Griffin Dempsey and Mychal Johnson. From Saint Marys were Kelsea Frickiesen, Audra Clark and Danielle Renner. Also on the team were Colleen McCormick from Wheeling Central and Victoria Thomas from Charleston Catholic.

Charleston Catholic won the School Sportsmanship Award and Saint Marys won the School Spirit Award.

Saint Joe won Class A girl's championships in 2009 and 2010 and finished state runner-up in 2008.

Huntington Saint Joe senior Sara Sang that is bound for the US Naval Academy to play basketball next year was first or second in many categories during the three tournament games played at the Charleston Civic Center.

Sang was second in points with 53 averaging 17.7 per game, second in scoring average, second in field goal attempts, second in field goals made, second in free throws made, first in rebounds overall and first both in defensive and offensive rebounds and first in blocked shots.

The year 2011 will be another year known for repeating state championships. North Marion also made in three Class AAA state championships in a row with their win over South Charleston. Summers County made it five Class AA championships in a row with their win over Scott.